General Data Protection Regulation

General Data Protection Regulation

What is GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law that determines how your personal data is processed and kept safe and the legal rights that you have in relation to your own data.

The regulation has applied since 25th of May 2018 and will apply after the UK leaves the EU.

The GDPR sets out the key principles about processing personal data, for staff or patients:

  • Data must be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently
  • It must be collected for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes
  • It must be limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed
  • Information must be accurate and kept up to date
  • Data must be held securely
  • It can only be retained for as long as is necessary for the reasons it was collected

There are also stronger rights for patients regarding the information that practices hold about them. These include:

  • Being informed about how their data is used
  • Patients to have access to their own data
  • Patients can ask to have incorrect information changed
  • Patients can restrict how their data is used
  • Patients can move their data from one health organisation to another
  • Patients have the right to object to their information being processed (in certain circumstances)

GDPR is a piece of legislation that superseded the Data Protection Act. It not only applies to the UK and EU; it covers anywhere in the world in which data about EU citizens is processed.

The GDPR is similar to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 (which the practice already complies with), but strengthens many of the DPA’s principles. The main changes are:

  • Practices must comply with subject access requests
  • Where we need your consent to process data, this consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous
  • There are new, special protections for patient data
  • The Information Commissioner’s Office must be notified within 72 hours of a data breach
  • Higher fines for data breaches – up to 20 million euros

What is ‘patient data’?

Patient data is information that relates to a single person, such as name, age, address, mobile, his/her diagnosis, earlier medical history etc.

What is consent?

Consent is permission from a patient – an individual’s consent is defined as “any freely given specific and informed indication of his wishes by which the data subject signifies his agreement to personal data relating to him being processed.”

The changes in GDPR mean that we must get explicit permission from patients when using their data. This is to protect your right to privacy, and we may ask you to provide consent to do certain things, like contact you or record certain information about you for your clinical records.

Individuals also have the right to withdraw their consent at any time.

Fair Processing Notice for Patients

Your Information, Your Rights

Our Fair Processing Notice explains why we collect information about you and how that information may be used to deliver your direct care and manage the local health and social care system.

The notice reflects:

  • What information we collect about you;
  • How and why we use that information;
  • How we retain your information and keep it secure;
  • Who we share your information with and why we do this.

The notice also explains your rights in relation to consent to use your information, the right to control who can see your data and how to seek advice and support if you feel that your information has not been used appropriately.

For more information:

 

What information we collect, use, and why.

We collect or use the following information to provide services and goods, including delivery:

  • Names and contact details
  • Addresses
  • Date of birth
  • Health information (including dietary requirements, allergies and health conditions)
  • Health and safety information
  • Call recordings
  • Records of meetings and decisions
    Identification documents

We also collect or use the following information to provide services and goods, including delivery:

  • Racial or ethnic origin
  • Genetic information
  • Health information
  • Sex life information
  • Sexual orientation information
    Lawful bases

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to provide services and goods are:

  • Consent
  • Legal obligation
  • Vital interests
  • Where we get personal information from
  • People directly
  • Health care providers
  • Insurance companies
  • Legal and judicial sector organisations
  • Schools, colleges, universities or other education organisations
  • Councils and other public sector organisations

Who we share information with:

  • Other organisations
  • Insurance companies
  • Health care providers
  • Organisations we need to share information with for safeguarding reasons
  • Professional or legal advisors
  • Relevant regulatory authorities
  • Professional consultants
  • Organisations we’re legally obliged to share personal information with
  • Emergency services (where necessary)

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

  • Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal data.
  • Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal data you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
  • Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal data in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal data you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent.
  • You don’t usually need to pay a fee to exercise your rights. If you make a request, we have one calendar month to respond to you.
  • To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Contact us

Please address all queries regarding your data to our Data Protection Officer via; post, telephone or email.

St Marks Medical Centre
24 Wrottesley Road
Plumstead
London, SE18 3EP

Telephone: 0208 8546262
Email: GRECCG.Stmarks-patientgroup@nhs.net